Eurasian transit freight joint venture restructured

INTERNATIONAL: The United Transport & Logistics Co intermodal transit freight joint venture of the national rail operators of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia was reorganised with effect from April 2.

UTLC said the changes which had been approved by the partners at the end of last year were intended to increase the involvement of all three shareholders, and to create the conditions needed for ‘more dynamic’ development of the business.

UTLC Eurasian Railway Alliance JSC has been established to take responsibility for developing and operating transit services with the three countries. It has an ‘asset light’ model, and is owned equally by BC, KTZ and RZD.

‘UTLC is a project of equal members with united goals and tasks’, said company President Alexey Grom. He said the new structure would support integration, with the final results dependent on ‘the partnership level and co-operation efficiency’ of the participants.

The three national railways agreed to the formation of UTLC in mid-2013. Each railway contributed various intermodal freight assets, and UTLC was formally registered on November 13 2014. The number of container trains operated in 2017 was up 75% year-on-year at more than 175 000 TEU.